Sestriere, Italy

The Italian Alps are a sight to behold. Snow capped mountains go on forever it seems. Clean, crisp air and sunny blue skies were delivered to our door for a week in Sestriere, Italy. The host city for the 2006 Olympics was Torino, and several events were staged 100 minutes away at Sestriere and surrounding villages of Sauze d'Oulx, Cesana, and San Sicario. We skied to these villages and Claviere through connecting lifts and/or gondolas. We never understood how one could ski from village to village in the Alps, but we do now.

Olympic Biathlon range

Olympic Bobsled/Luge/Skeleton track

Olympic Bobsled/Luge/Skeleton track

Olympic Ski Jumping facility

The week was uneventful and I am especially pleased to report no crutches, braces, or casts were needed this year. We did discover a libation that had the inherent ability to cause the need for crutches, braces or casts. This little number is called a Bombardino (The Bomb) and offers the right amount of warmth on a cold day.

But we did have one event that we have to share with all of you. Tuesday's forecast were predicting high winds on the top of the mountain later in the day. We were skiing on the opposite side of the mountain which meant that we needed to get over the mountain to get home. By 2:30 PM we started to make our way home, which required taking several lifts to the mountain top and then riding the gondola down the other side to Sestriere. As we got off a lower lift the winds were already very swift. Oh, jeez, did we wait too long to make our way home...Icy snow and tiny stones/grit were stinging our faces as we began skiing away from the lift to our next lift to the top. The lack of signs in this location caused us to wait for a minute or two until we oriented ourselves. This short delay was our savings grace. Another couple had gone on ahead of us, but we waited. Luckily the ski patrol gave us a loud whistle and motioned us to return to the unloading area. They closed the trail to the top...YEP, we waited too long.

So now what do we do...our condo is on the opposite side of the mountain. The ski patrol said we could take the bus back to Sestriere. Hmmm, what bus, where to get it and what are the bus schedules? We did not get that answered by the ski patrol, it was too windy and he had other more important things to attend to. This must happen often we told ourselves, and there must be an organized method to transport people who cannot use the gondola.

Well, method YES, organized NO. We found the bus pickup location or what the police said was the location, but was in fact, 100 yards away in a parking lot. From the size of the crowd we guessed five buses would be needed. One bus would pull up at any location on the lot and people would scramble, push/shove and get down right nasty trying to put their skis in the luggage compartment so that they could then, get on the bus. Stacking skis on top of one another in the luggage compartment of the bus was total chaos. Thankfully when it was our turn, our skis were on top. I honestly don't know how anyone could have retrieved their skis four feet deep in skis.

But after about 90 minutes waiting for the opportunity to get on the bus and another 50 minutes making stops along the way picking up and dropping off skiers, we were home again. What an ordeal, one that we wouldn't want to relive. We received five inches of snow that night to our delight, but the area is in need of a good healthy dumping of snow.

With several days of skiing under our belt and the city of Torino just down the road we decided to take a visit. Among the things Torino is known for are Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) manufacturing, the Holy Shroud (which has been carbon dated and places it no farther than the 12th century), Torino once was the capital of Italy, and the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum).

Torino, Italy - just outside the city

There are many museums in Torino but we couldn't pass up the Egyptian Museum which houses the most important collection of Egyptian treasures outside of Cairo. How did this outstanding collection end up in Torino you may ask. During Napoleon Bonaparte's conquest of Egypt, Bernardino Drovetti went to Egypt and served as French Consul. It was his booty that he brought back that formed the basis of the collection. At the start of the 20th century 25,000 further objects were also acquired. We learned that the Louvre Museum in Paris was offered the collection, but turned it down.

What I found interesting was the papyrus Tasnakht's Book of the Dead - three long rows of story telling of an important Egyptian citizen. The unplundered tomb, discovered in 1906, of Kha and his wife Merit (from 1400 BC) which comprises over 500 objects including wood furniture, clothing, food, tools, and funerary customs was fascinating as well.

Torino is an easy city to navigate by foot, the streets are well marked, but trying to park the car took some time. We walked to the Mole Antonelliana, the symbol of the city, and took the elevator to the top. Upon completion in 1897, it was the tallest building in the world. The viewing platform at 278 feet offered excellent panoramic views of the city and it was especially pretty just as the sun was setting.

Mole Antonelliana - viewing platform is just below the white skewed rectangles

We couldn't get enough of the excellent Italian food, something that is not impossible, but somewhat of a challenge to find in our area of France. The Italians are a friendly bunch and we did not experience any language barriers in our travels.

Click on the link below for more photos of our trip:

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt